Was asked to write a strength training program for high school sprinters and jumpers. They need to 'peak' in late-May. Does this look reasonable?

Volume and Intensity:

1.Offseason:
5 sets of 5 repetitions at 75% of 1RM
90 seconds rest between sets

2.Competition period: 10 February 2008 - 22 March 2008
6 sets of 3 repetitions at 75 - 80% 1RM
Two minutes rest between sets

3.Testing week: Find new 1RM - 23 March 2008 - 29 March 2008

4.Peaking: 30 March 2008 - 10 May 2008
3 sets of 3 repetitions at 80 - 85% 1RM
Two minutes rest between sets

5.Deloading: 11 May 2008 - 24 May 2008

Upper-lower split, 4 workouts weekly

Lower-body A
1.Snatch
2.Squat (any variation)
3.Stiff-leg deadlift
4.Glute-ham raise or reverse-hypers
5.Calf raise (seated >> standing)

Upper-body A

1.Bench press (any variation)
2.Standing military press
3.Lat Pull-downs
4.DB arm swings (3x60 seconds, full ROM) or hammer curls
5.Core work: abdominals, lower back, obliques

Lower-body B

1.Clean and jerk (or variation, i.e. power clean)
2.Squat (any variation)
3.Good mornings
4.High Pull (deadlift + upright row, rising explosively onto toes)
5.Calf raise (seated >> standing)

Upper-body B

1.Bench press (any variation)
2.Push press
3.Bent-over barbell row
4.DB arm swings (3x60 seconds, full ROM) or hammer curls
5.Core work: abdominals, lower back, obliques

Plyometrics (select six per workout)

1.Straight leg bounding. (“Walter Paytons”)
2.Alternating single leg bounds.
3.Skip for height.
4.Skip for distance.
5.Box jumps
6.Standing long jump for distance.
7.Line hops
8.Tuck jumps
9.Rocket jumps
10.Lunge jumps
11.Forward weight throw
12.Overhead weight throw
13.Medicine ball throws

Get them up to near 1RM in explosive lifts at about 3 weeks out, and then give them the next two weeks off to do skill work.

invest in one of these.

Honestly, those are over-rated. I worked with them for 3 years, and there is a lot more you can do with just training smart and using effective program designs.

We've got something similar; sometimes substitute it for plyo's.

I've spoken to an aspiring professional athlete about these as one of the guy from my office bought one for his son. The guy I spoke has to literally limit his powercleans because he can do too much fucking weight. This man powercleans 315 and throws it into a jerk like I do 135. It's the most amazing thing to watch... Not saying that equats to lots of knowledge, I'm just saying he is one of the most explosively strong human being I've ever seen in real life. He advocates it's use in a big way. I've also seen professional sports trainers recommend them as well. On the website it talks about a university's football team doing regularly scheduled workouts on them.

The philosphy when incorporated into proper training regimens is sound and the results in 40 times are hard to argue with.

I can show you NFL teams that use HIT programs, doesn't mean that's what makes them strong or a good team.

They are an ok training device, but the amount if costs to get one doesn't really justify it. There are a variety of plyo workouts one can incorporate for a lot less, plus weighted vests, harness, med balls, etc... you can buy a lot more functional training equipment for the $2,000 investment to buy the entry level model.

I'll let you in on a secret... that guy who can powerclean 315 lbs? He's probably able to do that amount because he does lots of power cleans.

It's a neat gadget, and I can see how it has its uses, but I agree with Ardvics - not really worth the cost IMHO unless you have money to burn.

Meh.. Cost effectiveness was something that didn't really cross my mind, but as fas as being a good tool - I'd argue in support of it.

FWIW some high school have great funding and something like this that could be utilized by almost every sports team available at the school wouldn't be an unheard of purchase.

Regardless of his powercleaning abilities I brought it up to accentuate that he is an explosive individual. I bet your ass the ratio of people who can powerclean 315 and do a 4 second 40 is closer to 1:1 than people who can't powerclean 315 and can run a 4 40. Just saying it has relevance. We're talking about an explosive movement here. It's not exactly apples to oranges.

Yes, we have one of those. We use it. We do plyos and weight training as well.

F* you guys.

Sorry heavy - WRT to the program, I would get them Oly lifting early on. Just don't use as much volume and concentrate on 5x5 for most of their lifts. Ramp up the Oly lifting towards the middle to later part of the cycle.

Thanks Kimbo.

I answered your question earlier you big baby. Btw - wtf do heavy lat pull downs have to do with explosive strength for sprinting and jumping? What you designed is better for someone during a basic strength phase maybe.

Err ... not much I guess. That's what I'm looking for here, keep 'em coming.

You wouldn't even be able to gauge that ratio since the fastest 40 ever run is around 4.05 - 4.20, depending on reaction time to a gun or if they are going from their own start.

What you are going to have to watch out for is that you are working with high school athletes - so a variety of experience and skill levels, from beginners to possibly advanced. Keep this in mind when designing your protocols because you need to factor in time to show them proper techniques.

The article I am attaching should help you out on the basics of periodization.
Click to view attachment

I recently spoke to a local high school sprint coach. Take this FWIW, but he claimed to be very well read on sprint training philosophy and he had a very minimalistic view on training. Even warm ups were very limited and weight training consisted of just constantly going for new maxes (like you were doing). He only worked on deadlift and bench presses as well. I wont claim any expertease in this area and while this isn't very helpful, it's certainly a place to start I would guess.

Explosive Step-Ups on 30" platform should be added. Keep the foot on the platform and do 5 reps per leg.

Have you read any of Charlie Francis' stuff on periodization?

Good idea, will look into it.